As I rolled into Little Rock, AR I received the best gift - Heifer International headquarters.
Heifer International is an impactful organization known for gifting livestock -- initially a heifer (a young female cow that has not yet born a calf) to now a variety of animals -- to families in need around the world as a means of providing self-sufficiency.
What I didn’t know is that these animals are also gifting fuel. Heifer International offers the training and technology for biogas facilities.
Manure for Fuel
The cows, goats and chickens not only provide milk and eggs but also manure that households can convert into biogas for fuel.
How does Biogas work?
Manure is fed into a chamber (plastic structure or brick repository), which is known as a digester. It is an oxygen-free environment where bacteria breaks down this organic waste creating a mixture of gases, predominantly methane, which is combustible. The gas is captured and converted into energy, used for cooking, lighting and heat.
Positive Impact of Accessing Cleaner, Cheaper Biogas
- Reduces smoke inhalation which occurs from wood burning stoves. In fact 1.5 million deaths per year worldwide occur because of smoke inhalation-related illnesses.
- Frees up women from gathering firewood, allowing girls to go to school and women to create goods. The UN Development Program estimates that women spend up to 10 hours per week gathering fire wood
- Preserves forests. Uganda’s Environment Management Authority said the country’s forestlands were cut by 30 percent between 1990 and 2005. According to the Authority, at this rate, Uganda would lose all its forests by 2050.
- Cook meals in twice the time from a wood burning stove.
Give the Gift of Clean Fuel
Want to give the gift of healthy cooking? You can! Power up a household with a clean, reliable biogas stove.
Picture courtesy Heifer International